until last night, i thought this wise women wednesday series was for you. i thought God wanted me to share the voice of women of all ages with you, to inspire you and grow you and challenge you. i knew God wanted to do something with their testimonies, and i thought that something had to do with you.

but our guest today, {cristina wright}, ripped those assumptions right down the middle. her words messed me up and convicted my heart and, to be honest, hurt a little.

they hurt because truth offends. truth calls you out. truth doesn't let you sit on the sidelines and pat your own back and ignore the reality of your weakness, and her words met my weakness head on: i am afraid of awkward.

wise women wednesday wasn't just for you, after all. it was for me.

before this series was even a thought in my mind, God was preparing to share this message through cristina. He knew i would need it. and sisters, He knows if you need it, too.

journey with me as we get comfortable with awkward, won't you?

get comfortable with awkward

Around the dinner table earlier this month, I surveyed my family on what they would consider “awkward” moments. I received some“spot-on” responses of which I definitely agreed with! Some of them included:

You congratulate a woman on the upcoming birth of her child when she had already delivered him three weeks ago. Ugh! (Ladies, this definitely is just as awkward when you are the woman being congratulated! Amen?)

You are running late to an appointment so you cut into a funeral procession and when you turn right so does the rest of the cars behind you. How do you explain the turn when you pull up to your hair cut appointment and so do twenty other cars?

You clog the toilet in someone else’s home at a party. I cannot remember which family member had firsthand experience with this one but I am sure it was probably more than one of them.

You call your new boyfriend by your previous beau’s name. Honestly, none of the women in my family have done this but we’re pretty sure it would be awkward.

And my personal favorite, you introduce yourself to someone and they respond, “We attend your church and go to the 9:30 service.”

If you are like me, with age and LOTS of experience you have figured out how to avoid the majority of these awkward moments. With that thought in mind, why is this almost backwards when it comes to sharing our faith? With age and LOTS of experience, I still encounter those awkward instances when it comes to wearing my faith on my sleeve and then sharing that sleeve or having people see me as someone who undeniably really, really loves and lives for Jesus.

I honestly have found that I can muster up more courage to talk with someone about my faith when I already know that they are a Christian. It’s happened to me at work. I was recently training some staff at one of my hospitals and I realized that KLOVE was playing on their radio on their desk , and immediately I said, "It’s awesome that you can listen to Christian music while you work." And THEN the discussion began as we began to share our Christian lives.

See how easy that was? I worked up enough courage to talk to another Christian about my Christian faith. The world needs more Christians as bold as I am.

But seriously, if we're called to "go and make disciples of all nations," why am I so scared to do it? Why do I feel so awkward when I even think about mentioning the God who has saved me from eternal suffering? I don’t think I am alone in this.

It’s almost as if talking to people about Jesus has become what awkward Christians do. Cool Christians don't want other people to think they're not cool, so they don't even take a stab at it. I think sometimes I’m definitely in that Cool camp. I want people to think I’m cool, so I choose to witness just by being good and kind in public. I justify that mindset by telling myself that I can have just as much impact by being a good person around others, and by waiting for the right time. After all, I don't want to turn people away plus I already feel awkward so there’s no sense in more than one of us feeling awkward. And that may be true. But when I look at the New Testament church, I see that Peter and the rest of the Awkward camp that followed Jesus around made the right time. They didn't wait for someone to ask about Jesus. It was urgent to them; it should be urgent for us. I’ve decided that the next time that awkward feeling washes over me like a “crawfish boil” gone bad, I’m just going to go with it. Sisters, think of awkward as the stirring of your heart where all the good stuff is.

It is the tapping on your shoulder by our Lord Almighty with the added, “It’s ok. You may not know exactly what to say but I’m going to be right here with you and I will still be glorified even if you don’t get the scripture verse right.” It is the gentle nudge right in the small of your back by Jesus Christ with the added “Don’t worry. Those people are absolutely going to stare at you while you pray with your friend in the parking lot of a restaurant after you have shared a meal. However, it is an image they will not soon forget. They will be sharing that same feeling as they gain the courage to pray with their own friends.”

Cristina is a forty-one year old who is married to a pastor, paramedic, and her best friend (they are all the same person!) and has three teen-age sweethearts and one grown-up, graduated, and married son. She works full time outside of the home in healthcare at a job she loves! She struck up a friendship with Jesus about 13 years ago and has had the time of her life catching up on all the things He has had in store for her.

@britt- isn't it funny how those thigns work some times? perfectly planned for sure....

@Cristina. Loved this. I too have had SO many-SOOOO many akward moments. I've found that it's in those moments that the experiences you encournter definitely build character...lol.... Love that you shared your honesty about this and that it's not just me...lol